The Butterfly Effect: rewritten
by Sango Nanami
Summary: The original was absolutely terrible, so here it is redone: Levi Ackerman and his subordinate Petra Ral had a secret. A secret series of "visits" to each others' rooms every night. The consequences showed upon Ms. Ral's death, but what if she had changed their habit by adding in one more night? It would change the course of time, but also create new consequences nine months later.
1. The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect: Re-Written

By Sango Nanami and Kyra

"Hey, Levi..." the orange-haired girl said as she leaned up next to her lover, who was still asleep. His face was so cute like this. Relaxed, calm, almost worry-free. She played with his hair and kissed him on the cheek as an attempt to tease him awake. As per usual, the two had spent the night making love until they both had completely run out of stamina. Although, if a mission was as important as today's is, they would spare themselves the energy to make sure there was no doubt that they'd come back alive, but that previous night, Petra had a feeling. Almost a foreboding one. The same feeling she got the night before wall Maria fell, and the night before the mission where her twin brother, Ian had died. A change in habit was what first came to mind, and of course, her sweet captain didn't object. However, it didn't change the fact that there was an important mission today, and sadly, the unforgiving clock had finally struck six a.m

She had thought of something called 'the butterfly effect' the night before. The slightest change in the past could drastically change the future. If her feeling was right, and disaster were to strike tomorrow, maybe a change of habit stood a chance to prevent it. Even if it was just a slight one, the threat of death was always eminent, so at least this way, if she were to die, she'd die remembering her captain's warm, loving embrace.

"Leeeeevi..." she whispered again. He opened his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Hi." He turned over to face her, sleep still lingering in his eyes.

"Come on, it's time to wake ah-!" she yelped in surprise when he pulled her into his embrace like a child cuddling a teddy bear.

"No... ten more minutes..." Levi drowsily whined, running his hands over the soft lines in her body. Almost as if hiding himself from the early light, he buried his head in his pillow. He of all people knew what was coming. He knew people would die on this mission, and he vowed to keep his squad safe, especially Eren and Petra... Especially Petra... He cherished each night they spent together. The heat, the passion, the love. The only thing he missed out on his entire life was love. Sure there were some prostitutes here and there, but that was a long time ago, and that was nothing compared to what he felt now.

"Levi, I don't feel good, let go..." Petra whined

"Excuses, excuses..." he replied pulling tightening his embrace. "It's just nerves, don't worry about it."

"Mhm..." she responded in that sleepy voice of hers. Finally, the morning bugle sounded. The wretched daylight had finally won the battle. Now came the challenging part; leaving Levi's room without getting caught. Quickly, she kissed him again, threw on her night gown, and dashed to the women's bathroom down the hall. It wasn't the stealthiest way, but in a few minutes, that hallway would be crowded with soldiers ready for a shower. Levi was half-tempted to walk down the hall behind her and hand her the pair of panties she accidentally left behind. But that could wait until tonight.

"Whoa, that eager to get a shower, Pet?" a teammate of hers noticed her dash into the room. Of course, Abigail was always up early to shower and get ready first, eager to impress the commander with her punctuality. Coming to an abrupt stop in the doorway didn't help Petra's stomach ache. Immediately, she covered her mouth.

"Oh, it doesn't smell that bad in here." Abigail jokingly sneered at her friend

"I've just felt like crap since I woke up. That's..." She ran to the nearest toilet, Abigail in tow to hold back her hair as she emptied the contents of her stomach.

"Jesus, are you okay?" Abigail asked

"I'm just nervous..." Petra replied.

"You're gonna be fine, we've all got captain Levi. He and commander Erwin will always protect us. Okay?" Abigail couldn't think of what to say to her friend, so made up the most inspiring thing she could.

After showering, it was off to breakfast, then to the gates of wall Rose. The commander's new system of titan spotting was genius. So far, there were no casualties.

That is, until the female titan showed up.

"PETRA, WE NEED TO REGROUP! PETRA!" She heard the voice, but she couldn't move. Too fast. Too fast to outrun, too fast to slip by. So fast. How could her eyes have regenerated in less than thirty seconds? Gunther and Erd had already fallen to the female titan. Two elite soldiers. How did this happen? She thought she would be able to change this sort of outcome. How? Why did she prioritize only one eye? Why was she doing this? Then it happened. Petra felt a giant foot pin her against a nearby tree. Everything felt as if it had shattered instantly. She fell to the ground in the worst pain imaginable. It was growing dark. No, this couldn't be it.

"No, please, God. I haven't even told Levi I loved him. I never told him the future I want with him. The wedding, the house, the family... we were supposed to destroy the titans together." she thought to herself, silently praying as she stared up at the tree canopy. It was a beautiful day. Sunlight showing through the new summer leaves. Blood was filling her lungs. She coughed and saw another shadow of the female titan kicking Auruo, who landed about three feet from where she was, and a flash of lightning as Eren transformed. Her old friend looked up at her from his spot, just as barely conscious as she was.

"H-h-hi..." he said.

"Hi..." she replied before hacking up blood.

"Petra, I can't... I can't move..." Auruo looked so scared. She knew he loved her, but she saw him more as a little brother. It was a shame. Auruo would have made some girl very happy. She felt it would be fitting to do what she could to keep him awake and alive until help came, or at the very least, make him feel better in his last moments.

"It's...go-a be o-kay." she let out a smile before coughing again.

"Where- where's cap?" he asked. The blood in her lungs was starting to overcome her. She was breathing as hard as she could, but at this position, it was useless. Some blood got on her face, but most of it stayed in her trachea.

"He'll... come" she managed to spit out some words as the asphyxiation started to take hold. Pure agony.

"Petra... I'm so scared... I think I pissed myself again..." Auruo tried to laugh, but started coughing as well. His bones had snapped, puncturing his lungs and organs. He only had to wait until death's merciful grip finally took him. Petra tried moving to face him, but the slightest twitch felt as if she were being torn in two.

"It...go-a...e... o-ay" she repeated, taking in as much air as she could. She said it over and over to him for what seemed like an eternity until the blood filled her mouth again. She tried coughing it up, but more replaced it. She couldn't breathe.

"Petra?" Auruo asked as he started to fall asleep. His teammate and friend started twitching and jerking around trying to move her head to get rid of what was blocking her airway. Fighting and fighting until finally, it went black.

"I love you." he whispered as he closed his eyes for the last time.

Levi swung between trees after tree with his 3D maneuver gear. He needed to find the others. He had heard nothing from them and seen none of them. Anxiety. Fear. Anger that they hadn't followed orders. He got angrier and angrier as one by one, he found their bodies. Erd, Gunther, Auruo... Every one of them were dead. Then, that's when he saw her. That familiar orange hair and golden eye. He instantly dropped to the ground.

He put two fingers on her neck to feel for a pulse. Nothing. She was still warm, though. This couldn't be happening. No, this couldn't happen... This wouldn't happen! He wouldn't let it! In a surge of desperation, he gently laid her broken body onto the ground and unbuttoned her shirt, and cut off her bra so he could try CPR to get her heart going again. He tried and tried. Pushing on her chest and forcing air into her over and over again. The only change was more and more blood escaped her mouth. Fighting back tears, he turned her over to try and clear her airway with no luck. He turned her over on her back and tried CPR again.

Finally, after three minutes, the longest amount of time he could spare without attracting titans, he stopped. Now he had a choice to make. Bring her body over to the medic cart to see if there was anything at all they do, or go after Eren, who was fighting the female titan currently. She didn't stand a chance, but still. The possibility is slim of saving her, but existent. She wouldn't have wanted him to sacrifice the mission for her safety. No. It was not going to end here. He's humanity's strongest, and he's damn well going to act like it for once. Gently, he went up to the trees with her body. Hanji and the medical cart wouldn't be far. Ten trees away to be precise. Counting down, he did what he could to get a response from Petra.

"Oi, wake up. It's not funny anymore." No response, nine trees to go

"Petra Ral, this is an order, wake up." Nothing. Seven trees to go

"We'll never have sex again if you don't wake up." five trees to go

"For fuck's sake, after the mission, I was going to propose." four trees to go. Eren was roaring in the distance. Loud booms could be heard as either of the titans hit the ground

"Petra, I'm gonna drop you off with Shitty Glasses, and you'll be okay." three trees to go. He adjusted his hold of her so that she was over his shoulder almost like a ragdoll. What a horrible feeling. Quickly, he grabbed a flare indicating an emergency, and fired it. Two more trees to go. The medical team saw it, and got what they could ready. First aid kits, hand oxygen pumps, anything mobile enough to bring on a mission. One more tree to go. By now, his cloak was covered in blood, and he couldn't care less. He just wanted Petra back. He would trade anything for that.

He gently laid her down on the cot set up with soldiers surrounding the perimeter. Some were already wounded, some were tending to them. Hanji immediately checked for a pulse, shook her head, and said the most vicious word Levi had ever heard her say.

"Next."

"Like hell, next!" he had finally snapped at this. He hadn't given up, Petra hadn't, and Hanji better not.

"Levi, I'm sorry, but..."

"She can't breathe! Make her breathe then see what happens, you'll see!" Levi panicked, and Hanji could see this new emotion in his eyes. It was fear.

"I know she was a member of your squad and it's hard, but-"

"SHE'S NOT JUST A MEMBER OF MY SQUAD!" silence fell onto the group of soldiers as Levi shouted at his friend and teammate. It was an eerie silence. Even Eren and the female titan couldn't be heard fighting. Wait... That's when it clicked for everyone. The fight was over, but something must have happened to Eren

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll do what I can to fix up Petra for the time being, and you get Eren, okay?" Hanji sighed. Levi replied with a nod, realizing the situation's urgency. Bringing back Petra was the wrong choice, but he didn't care. Petra deserved better than to die like this.

"Don't fuck this up, Hanji." he launched his gear off into the trees, not only to rescue Eren, but to avenge his fallen squad.

After a quick examination, it was discovered that there was indeed a heartbeat, but very faint, slowly fading as the seconds passed. Finding that supplementary oxygen wasn't helping, an aspirator was used to open up her airways. She was hanging on, but by a very tight thread. Petra started to breathe on her own again, but was losing blood fast. Saving her life required a field transfusion. Luckily, there was a person with type O- blood willing to accommodate. By the time Levi had gotten back, she was comatose, but very much alive.

Once they got back, she, among other wounded, were escorted to a hospital in the Calaneth district near the gates, they were using real medical equipment to reset her bones. Sure the hospital was small, but it was better than nothing. Petra's family was upset to say the least that their daughter had been injured to where she was on death's door. Though it was still better than death. Petra needed to have almost her entire spine surgically reset, not to mention the fluid. Such a precise operation in such a high-risk place was a last resort option. There wasn't that much anesthesia, so they'd have to work fast. The first incisions were made by the doctor living there as Hanji made sure nothing was going wrong. After about two hours, the first few vertebrae had been reset, and the needed pins and bars added in to stabilize it. The doctor sat down to rest, and switched with Hanji.

Hanji made a new incision and started working on her lower spine, Levi, sitting in a chair in the corner, refused to leave, or take his eyes off of Petra. That is, until he noticed an unusual blood stain on the makeshift surgical gown she was wearing.

"Oi, four-eyes, be less messy with your tools. You got blood on her." he snapped

"What are you talking about? I haven't spilled a drop of blood. We only have a few bags available." Hanji simply shrugged off this remark, knowing it was Levi's way of being a neat freak. Levi, however wasn't pleased. The spot started growing.

"Hanji, she's bleeding." He barked.

"Where?" Hanji asked, curious as to where this mysterious stain only Levi was able to see came from. Levi cleared his throat a bit nervously.

"Between her legs." He plainly stated. Immediately, Hanji cracked up

"Levi, all that means is she got her period." She tried not to drop the surgical tools as she laughed.

"Just check and make sure she didn't hit a really sharp rock or something on the ground." he said. Hanji laughed even more. Levi just got angrier and angrier. He walked up to the table while Hanji had gone back to working on Petra's back. The smell of blood was almost too much for him. It seemed like it was everywhere. On his Jacket, on his cloak, on her clothes, now lying on the floor. Her face, even her hair... Finally, his eyes went to the source of the mystery stain, and he shamelessly lifted her gown, and pulled down her underwear.

"Is period blood supposed to be that thick?" Hanji looked over in shock, and smacked his hands away from the fabric before registering what he had just said. When it hit her though, she nearly halted the procedure, and called for the doctor, asking for sedatives to put into the IV or inject directly into a vain. Muscle relaxants, mild tranquilizers, anything at all would do. There was a possible miscarriage she needed to stop. Levi froze up when he heard that come out of her mouth. Miscarriage.

"Miscarriage as in..." he said in a near whisper

"Miscarriage as in she could very well be pregnant right now. Now help out or go."

Levi's eyes widened. Pregnant?

"Oh God..." he said to himself. Time around him nearly froze. When did this happen? They had always been so careful. At this point, his body was moving on its own, directed only by Hanji and the doctor's orders: put warm towels under her. See if the sedatives are working. Check the level of blood loss. Has it gone down? By how much? Clean up the blood and watch for any tissue. No tissue, the drugs are working. Keep those towels warm. Has the bleeding stopped?

All the while, his mind was still stuck his own questions: When did this happen, How? Why? Did she know? Why didn't she tell him?

"Levi, snap out of it!" He heard Hanji's voice say a sentence that took a slap to the face to kick in. He was back in the real world, still standing next to Petra, doing his job of keeping the towels warm, and checking the bleeding.

"The bleeding's stopped. No signs of tissue." He said almost robotically.

"Alright, we saved it. Now, keep an eye on that, I only have a few more pins to put in." Hanji said as she went back to the spine. No other complications occurred, and Petra was quickly put into a body cast for transportation to a military hospital where it would be assured that she'd have the best care possible. The entire ride there, he didn't speak at all. It was assumed by most that Levi wouldn't leave her side because she was the only surviving member of his squad. This poor young woman, saved by nothing less than a miracle.

After a few hours, they finally had arrived, and she was rushed into yet another surgery. This one would be under top-notch doctors, and those brand new electric lights. Hanji filled in the doctors on what happened during the previous emergency surgery, and the pregnancy discovered. The surgeon looked surprised. He asked if there had been a blood test, and Hanji said no, but described the narrowly-avoided miscarriage in great detail. So much that even Levi had to shut her up.

"Well, by law, we can't do anything before getting the consent of the father, or the mother's next of kin to abandon the pregnancy if need be. This could get in the way of a lot of drugs, or procedures." the head surgeon explained.

Levi's hands started to shake. 'Abandon' was a word he knew too well. Abandoned by his mother as a child. Abandoned by his friends and comrades as they died right in front of his face. Petra, though... she never abandoned him. No matter what she did, it was always for someone else. Regardless of whether or not she knew, he couldn't bring himself to abandon her and their child.

"You're not abandoning that kid." He finally said to them. The doctors look over, confused.

"Captain Levi, with all due respect, you're her commanding officer, you really have no power over whether or not we perform an emergency abortion." the surgeon calmly stated

"Oh, so now it's an abortion?" Levi glared at them, starting to tap his foot in impatience.

"Sir, the pregnancy is risky enough already, and it's nothing short of a miracle that the fetus has survived this long, but-"

"I'm not some anti-choice idiot, but this kid's got a good shot at life so far with parents that are gonna love it, and can afford to keep it. Petra wouldn't want you throwing that away, and neither do I." Levi said. Hanji was dumbfounded by that statement. Either he was very passionate about someone else's baby, or...

"Sir, you're not the father, so despite your rank, nothing really-"

"Are you a complete airhead? I'm the father, dip shit." he snapped. The room went silent. The doctors both looked at Hanji, then Levi, then at each other, then at Levi.

"Captain... would you be willing to submit to a blood test?" the head surgeon asked

"Fine, just get her into surgery, and if one thing goes wrong, and Petra dies, or that baby is thrown away, I will personally wring all of your necks!" he viciously threatened. He hadn't eaten or slept since the mission. Levi was, at this point, beyond done with everyone there. Done with titans, done with idiot doctors, done with the entire pregnancy situation. He just wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted to go back to this morning, where the world didn't matter. It was just him, Petra, and his bedroom. He sat there in the waiting room for hours. Ignoring all requests to come back to HQ, he sat and waited, staring at the clock. How long had she been in there? Why couldn't he come in? He tapped his foot on the floor anxiously. Day had turned to night, and then back into day. By this point, Erwin stopped by, attempting to retrieve him to return for a mission report he needed to do, which was immediately met with

"Fuck off, Erwin"

Erwin left and came back with coffee, sitting down next to the man he called his friend. He handed the fatigued man a cup, and the silence continued. Erwin took a few sips of his beverage while Levi's was getting cold on the table in front of them

"Drink up, you'll need to be awake for when she gets out of the OR."

"It'll taste like shitty hospital coffee." He instantly replied.

"It's not hospital coffee. We're in wall Sina." Erwin said

"Pardon me, it's top-notch shitty hospital coffee." Levi retorted. The long silence in the waiting room continued. Levi started letting his eyes wander off of the book he was reading to observe more of the room. Overhearing conversations, he learned that one family was waiting for their grandmother who had fallen and broken her hip, one family had a child in getting an appendectomy, and one man was pacing back and forth in front of the door to the hallway, constantly asking emerging nurses about the status of his wife in labor. A situation Levi knew he would be in all too soon. He hoped this was caught early enough where they had time to prepare for the newest member of the survey corps, that is, if Petra isn't going to retire.

They had so many years ahead of them. Killing titans, secret rendez-vous', everything under the stars. Now, what would they do? Of course they'd kill titans, but afterwards, there'd be diapers to change, feedings, burpings, teaching a baby to walk, talk, eat, there'd be no energy or time left. No, he shouldn't look at it that way. He grabbed the cup of coffee, and, trying to get his mind off of the subject he took a sip.

"it's alright"… Levi said, going back to his book.

"Daddy, when's the baby coming?" a child that couldn't have been older than five approached the pacing man. Again, Levi's attention was drawn away, and he glanced over, trying not to look like he was staring. The man picked up his daughter and smiled.

" well, the nice doctors in there are helping mommy with having the baby, it's just taking a little longer than expected." Levi could see the worry the man was hiding from the little girl. Just from the amount of exhaustion and empty coffee cups on the table, he could tell the man had been there for a while. Longer than he had, that was for sure.

"Levi, did you hear me?" Erwin drew his attention away from the pair

"Yeah, something about the b-…." Levi nervously chugged his coffee, unable to even say the word, 'baby'.

"…. We need to figure out how far along she is. You also need to think about assembling a new squad to protect Eren. This one may have failed, but they didn't die in vain." Erwin said being met with a glare from the captain.

"….. no one else survived?" he asked

"You only attended to Petra, against my orders, by the way-.."

"I failed, Erwin!" he nearly shouted, attracting momentary stares from the entire room.

"I failed… I failed in protecting Eren, protecting my squad, protecting my own damn child! I can't protect people worth shit! How am I supposed to be a decent father if I can't even stop my friends from being killed?" He was hiding his face at this point, hanging his head, watching teardrops hit the floor.

The commander was speechless. After everything, he had never seen Levi cry at least once. He always hid his feelings. Happy or sad, they were always hidden beneath a scowl. This Levi hadn't slept, eaten, or moved from some waiting area since the mission the previous day. This Levi wasn't the one he knew. This man was at his breaking point.

"Captain Levi?" A nurse emerged from the doorway to the hospital. The two soldiers stood up immediately.

"How is she?" Levi wiped the tears away from his eyes and looked at the nurse.

"Alive…. We just barely managed to save the baby too, but we did. Ms Ral is about three months along, but the baby's heartbeat is as faint as hers. C-captain, wait!" she exclaimed as Levi stormed down the hallway followed by the nurse and Erwin.

"Where is she?" He demanded

"R-right this way." The intimidated nurse said, leading him down the hallway to a post-operation room. She opened the door, and Levi walked in, and froze.

There was Petra

Hooked up to at least three machines, she was taking long, deep breaths. Her shattered back had finally been reset, and she was in yet another body cast going from her torso to her feet, as a few fractures in her legs had been found. The tree had absorbed a large percentage of the impact, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The nurse explained as much of what happened as she could, including surgical complications, and the two instances where her heart had stopped until the doctor signaled her to stop talking

Levi, in the meantime had pulled up a chair to the bed and sat down next to where his lover was laying. He was terrified of the thought of her death. If she were gone, his world would become that much darker. She was his hope, his salvation. The way her gentle face looked as she was asleep was the thing that sent him over the edge. As if the display in the waiting room weren't humiliating enough, he took her limp hand in his, and broke down into a sobbing fit. He couldn't keep his usual stoic expression up anymore. Erwin led the nurse and doctor out, so they didn't see humanity's strongest come undone, but that poor man had had enough of all the death and the destruction. Then a phrase Petra said so often rang through his mind;

"Have Faith."

With those words, he had an epiphany. In about six months, petra, who will probably still be in some sort of physical therapy, will deliver their baby into this hellish world of titans and corruption. They'll both have to teach that child what the world outside the walls looks like. He will exterminate the titans for the single purpose of showing that child what they saw on every mission before wall Maria fell. Birds flying freely across the sky, fields of wildflowers of different varieties that go on for miles. Wild horses, cows, deer… that thing called the ocean. He wanted nothing more than to show that baby all of that.

The road to recovery and parenthood would be a long, tedious one, but it would be worth every moment. Every midnight feeding, every diaper change, everything. Everything would be worth not only that child seeing the world outside the walls, but Levi getting a new title. More important than captain, commander, or even king

That title is "daddy."

He will have faith in this child, he would have faith in Petra. He would have faith.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: PHEW, There's chapter 1. WOOT… So, yeah. I hated the original story, so I'm putting legit effort into this puppy. I hope you enjoy the remake that requires so much researching and my co-author helping me out and such… Beh…. It's almost 1 in the morning. Goodnight.


	2. A Small Bump

AUTHOR'S NOTE: You want to hear the saddest song ever written that I'm considering making a video with? Look up "A small bump" by Ed Sheeran.

She was sinking. Deeper and deeper in some seemingly bottomless, vast pool of water. Was this the ocean she had heard so much about from forbidden books? She was just surrounded by blue as far as she could see. She couldn't breathe, but she wasn't suffocating. She couldn't move, but she wasn't paralyzed. It was so cold, but so warm. Was she dead? This was purgatory? The last thing she remembered was seeing the tree rushing towards her, and the female titan… no, she wanted to forget that. The water became cold and everything was numb.

"Petra? What are you doing here?" A voice called out to her. She looked around and saw Erd, Gunther, and Auruo floating around her.

"Guys…. Are we…." She asked with awe, watching bubbles rise to the surface

"You're not." Auruo corrected her with his usual smirk. The water was growing darker.

"What do you think you're doing?" Erd asked as he started pulling Petra up.

"I- I.." Petra looked up at her three friends, now simultaneously pulling her out of the water.

"Just don't piss your pants again!" Gunther joked.

"I didn't piss my pants in the first place!" she snapped angrily. The light was growing closer, her friends let go.

"Whatever you do, don't look back!" she heard Auruo say from below her. She had no time to think, the water was getting warm. She was gently floating towards the surface, with the light getting brighter. There was a hand reaching out for her… who was that? She wasn't exactly sure. As she approached it, she couldn't seem to see a face, however, but there was something familiar about it. Hesitantly, she reached out for it. Suddenly, it grabbed her and swiftly yanked her up out of the water. Then things faded to white, and slowly, she finally awoke in a hospital room.

It was the same as her dream, though. She couldn't breathe, but she wasn't suffocating. She was hooked up to what seemed to be a ventilator, and the sensation was horrible. She started coughing, reaching upwards trying to get the tube out of her throat. Suddenly, a hand was gently covering her mouth.

"Petra, don't do that. That's what's keeping you alive."

She knew that voice. It was her captain. Her pulse quickened, and her eyes darted around the room. Where was she? How did she get here?

She couldn't move, but she wasn't paralyzed. A body cast prevented her from getting up and hugging him.

"Cap…"

He was sitting by her bedside in a chair. The three days she was in a medically-induced coma, he was there beside her. From dawn until dusk every moment, he was by her side. When she looked around, she was surrounded by flowers of many different kinds. Not only that, but 'get well' cards from many people, and even a few stuffed animals.

"You survived the battle with the female titan …" Levi said quietly. Petra looked back at him.

"So, how long… am I out…for?" she asked, struggling to speak with the tube.

"….We're not sure. The doctors say it'll take a few months for your bones to heal, then around half a year of physical therapy, and you're able to go on your… leave. It won't be easy, Petra." Levi explained.

"My… leave?" she asked, confused

"Well, I mean… in your condition, I'm sure you already know." Levi's voice grew a bit quieter. He was still scared to death of the idea of fatherhood in general, not to mention the fact that everyone he has ever gotten close to has died right in front of him. Gently, he took her hand.

"No… I don't… already... know." She started struggling to breathe. All she knew was she didn't like where this conversation was going. Was she even worse off than she thought? Was she sick?

"What's… going on?" she asked

"Shhh, shh. Calm down, Petra." Levi was trying to soothe her, but she was getting more and more nervous, tears started to well up in her eyes... She was scared

"Four eyes can explain it better than I can." He motioned to Hanji at the other side of the room. Petra looked over to her, trying to find some explanation as to what was going on. Hanji quietly walked over, and sat down on a chair by the hospital bed.

"Well, Petra…umm… there's some good news and some bad news…." Hanji said nervously

"Good… news… first..." Petra managed to say

"Okay, well the good news is the body cast is only for between a few days and a few weeks, depending on how you heal, then for a few months, you'll be in a back brace, then physical therapy. Bla bla bla…. The bad news is… there's also a chance you may not be able to rejoin the legion after you recover."

Petra started sobbing at that news. Her friends and comrades were dead, and it seemed that due to her injury, she may never see outside the walls again… her breathing was cut off again. She was having some sort of panic attack. She gripped Levi's hand hard trying to stay conscious. Finally, Levi barked an order, and the tube was removed, and it was replaced with an oxygen mask. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world, but it was better now that she could breathe on her own. Slowly, the room stopped spinning, and she was back.

"It's okay, Petra. There's some other good news. You didn't lose your baby through all of this! You've got one tough little bun in the oven!" Hanji smiled, and gently patted Petra's stomach.

"Wait, what?" Petra nearly shouted in a scratchy, tired voice.

"You didn't know already?" Levi asked

"No, I had no idea!" she said in shocks

"Levi told us you've been sleeping together a lot, sometimes, these things just happen…" Hanji said calmly.

"It's alright if you want to get rid of it." Levi kissed her hand. He had fought against the doctors abandoning the pregnancy, but if Petra couldn't do it, there was nothing he could do to stop her.

"…. I need to think about this." Petra responded after a long pause.

"Do you want to know how far along you are?" Hanji asked

"…. No, not until I've made up my mind…" Petra's voice was at a near whisper. After a few minutes of checking up on vitals and healing, Hanji finally left so the couple could talk.

"Captain, I can't- I can't have a baby….!" Petra said as tears ran down her cheeks. Levi responded with a few minutes of silence before speaking up.

"I don't want to persuade you in either direction, but…. You nearly miscarried on the operating table... I'm sorry, I just… when they figured out what it was, I couldn't help but stop them…" he said quietly.

"No, I mean I was told by a doctor that I physically can't have a baby. Before I joined up with the military, I was supposed to get married off, or something along those lines, but there was something wrong with my periods, or… lack thereof…so we just assumed…." She explained.

Levi glanced down at her flat stomach, and then back into her eyes

"Well, I guess you were wrong…" he said

"Yeah…" Petra smiled

"Well, you won't be in a body cast for long, just until they can take those stabilizers out and you can use a back brace and crutches instead… or a wheelchair… So, that's the good news… The doctor already tweaked your meds so they won't hurt the b-…. The b-…. Fuck…" Levi cursed a bit at himself

"I can say 'kid', but I can't say the other word…"

There was another silence. Petra looked into her captain's eyes. He wasn't acting like his usual self. The news had struck a chord in him. She couldn't tell if he was happy or not. Only that he was affected by it. She thought of how happy they were together before, and how happy they would be with a baby too…or at least, how happy she would be with a baby. She should let him leave if he wants to. Humanity's strongest shouldn't be so tied down. It wasn't fair to him at all. It would be hard, but she could deal with raising his baby alone.

It was when Petra was about to speak up on the matter when Levi suddenly leaned over, kissed her stomach, and started talking.

"Hey kid… umm I don't know if you can hear me through this cast… or at all, actually… but I'm your father. The lovely woman taking care of you right now is your mother. The idiot taking care of your mother is Hanji Zoe. She's a four-eyed titan enthusiast nerd, but at the same time, she saved your life… I really wished you hadn't shown up so damn early, but you did, so I promise I'm gonna be the best dad out there. That's fucking cheesy, but it's true. And in six months, when you get here, the first thing I'm gonna do is take you up to the top of Wall Rose so you can see how the world is so much more than some they're gonna tell you . Mom and I are going to do everything we can to make sure you can see that for yourself." He took a deep breath, and looked up to Petra.

"I've never heard you say so much." Petra couldn't help but smile as a tear ran down her cheek.

"What? I'm always talkative." Levi rubbed his eyes.

"That's a pretty good idea, though… taking the baby to the top of the wall when it's born…" Petra said

"I never really had a father, so I'll try my best…" he said quietly.

"You'll be the best father." Petra reassured him.

"Oh, that reminds me…" Levi shuffled around in his pocket for a few seconds, and took out a small gold band. Petra's eyes widened when he held it up

" Ca- captain, what's…?" She said, stunned by this sudden gesture of love

"Don't think I'm not doing this just because you're pregnant now, I've been thinking about this for a while... " He gently took her hand, one of the only parts of her body not in a cast.

"Captain Levi, I… I…. " Petra's face turned bright red

"Do you want to be my wife or not?" He asked, hiding the blush on his own face. Petra smiled, and nodded. Tears began to well up in her eyes

"Yes... yes… yes I do, captain!" She sobbed. He let out a smile, and put the ring on her hand.

"I never want to hear you call me captain again. From now on, it's just Levi." He said

"OOOOOOH, SHE SAID YES!" Hanji squealed as she practically jumped into the room.

"You were listening?" Levi was instantly back to his usual irritated state

"What? Who wouldn't want to hear?" She pulled up a chair. Levi gently rubbed Petra's stomach.

"This woman is most likely gonna bring you into the world, kid… I'll see what I can do about that." He said.

"Awwwwwwww! You're talking to her tummy too?! It's so adorable!" Hanji squealed before being met with another glare from Levi.

"So, you mentioned you knew how far along I was?" Petra asked as she gently held Levi's hand, trying to calm him down. Hanji immediately sat down on the hospital bed with a medical book.

"Well, if my guess is right, your baby is about 3 months old." She flipped through different pages of the book, showing different diagrams and paragraphs.

"According to this, it's already started moving, but I doubt you can feel it since the baby's about the size of your thumb right now. OOOH it's so exciting! See, it's already got facial muscles, and arms and legs, and soon, we'll be able to hear its little baby heartbeat~!" Hanji started going on about different facts

"Why are you so damn interested in this, four eyes?" Levi said in his typical monotone

"Because it's the first time anyone in the scouts has had a baby, and I never thought I'd see the day where you of all people would become a daddy! But this way we can study how the fetus develops in military conditions, how Petra's injury affects it"…. Hanji kept listing more and more variables and how fun the experiments and hypotheses' would be, and Levi knew one thing:

This was going to be a long six months.


	3. Heartbeat

AWESOME NEWS: MMD VIDEO ANIMATIONS OF EACH CHAPTER (along with deleted/omitted scenes from the fic itself) WILL BE POSTED ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND MMD PICTURES TO MY DEVIANTART:

So, if you're interested, chapter 1 is already up as an add for the story, and a combo video of chapters 2 and 3 is almost done

MY YOUTUBE: Sario95 (Petra Ackerman)

MY DEVIANTART: sangonanami

Okay, CHAPTER TIIIIME :D

That body cast was coming off. It had been three weeks since the mission, and it had become the bane of Petra's existence. As if her morning sickness, and mood swings weren't enough, the immobilization, feeding tubes, and not to mention, the fact she was always sweaty made the three weeks feel like three years. The previous week, the pins and stabilizers that weren't necessary were removed so if she were able to rejoin the scouts, she could use her 3d maneuver gear. This week was full of x-rays and last-minute checks. Finally, she was ready to go, and she couldn't be happier.

The doctor came in with a nurse, and a small blade to cut the cast. She looked over at Levi, who shot over a glare as if to say some sort of threat. She shuddered a bit and started cutting and removing the casts. First came the head, and legs. Afterwards, she started to cut the cast around her torso.

"Oh, just as a warning. We're estimating the pregnancy at about 13 weeks. The uterus should have expanded a bit past the pelvis as the fetus is growing very fast." The doctor said

"In English." Levi retorted

"It means Ms Ral might be starting to show. " The nurse smiled. The rest of the cast was gently lifted, and sure enough, under Petra's hospital gown was a small hard bump in her stomach. Levi froze for a moment as soon as he saw it. The thing that snapped him out of it, though, was Petra's suddenly soft, almost maternal voice as she touched the mysterious bump for the first time.

"hi there! " She cooed, gently rubbing her stomach. Levi looked into her eyes. This was absolute proof that there was undoubtedly a baby on the way, and Petra's body was finally showing that it was registered. Her eyes had a sudden sparkle. Her skin had the infamous glow pregnant women had. That little bump made her something more than Petra Ral, and made him something more than Levi Ackerman. He let out a smirk and put his hand on top of hers.

"so you're that kid I've been hearing so much about… you seem alright. " He said at a near whisper.

"Don't be so rude to the baby, it's already perfect." Petra smiled.

"Yeah…" Levi said. He moved aside, and let the doctor set up Petra with her brace. It was custom made for her; a combination of a brace that goes from the neck to the base of the spine, and a maternity brace, hopefully combining the right amount of support and with space cut out for the baby. It was still uncomfortable, but not the worst thing in the world.

"You'll need the help of another person to put the brace on, so I presume captain Levi can do that. You'll want to wear that for about 10-12 more weeks. When it comes off, you'll be considerably…. Bigger… by then, but it shouldn't be a problem. At most, it'll be a bit more difficult to put it on." The doctor explained how to put on the cast, how to sit with it on, and even tried getting Petra to stand up, which wasn't the best idea with her current weak leg muscles.

After the whole tiring experience was over, Levi helped his fiancée back into her bed, making sure she was comfortable. He even tucked her in and sat holding her hand until she fell asleep. At that point, he was retrieved by one of the scouts. They had a mission to do.

He sat in the coach, annoyed, to say the least, at Erwin's topics of casual conversation. All different reasons and excuses to make it so Petra's leave was permanent. With each optimistic prediction came a pessimistic response:

"Well, if she lived in the walls, maybe with her parents, she'd be much safer. Not to mention the baby would grow up around other children."

"she'll be in even more danger from titans since if this experiment doesn't work, we'll have no idea who the one who killed the rest of my squad is. Also, all kids are brat, and learn to be such from other brats. I don't want my kid to be a brat."

Erwin gave him a puzzled look and continued:

"Levi, you realize there's more of a threat of titans on base than in a normal city." He said

"I'll protect them." Levi said back

"she'll have access to much better medical care than we can offer." Erwin reminded him. Levi hesitated on that for a moment, and thought of his answer to that.

"Shitty glasses nearly had a heart attack from excitement when she found out about the b-... kid. She'll be an expert by the time it pops out of Petra." Even Levi knew that was a bit of a stretch, but at this point, he didn't care much.

"You know as well as I that that's impossible for Hanji to become an expert Obstetrician and Pediatrician overnight." Erwin said

"she has six months. There's time." Levi stared daggers at the commander, who only looked at him in pity at this point."

"You can't even say the word, 'baby' how do you-"

"Because those things died in the underground on a daily basis. It became bad luck to say the word until the kid turned five. I don't want to jinx anything." Levi stared out the window of the coach they were sitting in as they passed building after building. There was a long silence. Erwin, puzzled by the situation, simply said the easiest solution.

"As of this moment, Petra Ral is discharged from the scouting legion and the military. I will send paperwork over to your office tomorrow, and you will sign it or there will be consequences." Erwin made those instructions crystal clear. Levi had already disobeyed one order, what was to stop him from breaking another one?

"I'm. Not. Signing. Shit." Levi said in the most menacing tone he could use, looking Erwin straight in the eyes. He signaled for the driver to stop the coach, and got out. About to storm off, he noticed that they were being surrounded by Military police. That was when the lightning flashed that disgustingly familiar green and yellow, and the female titan arose from her human form.

"Just what I need today…" Levi said to himself

Petra was awoken by a large crashing sound. Like thunder, but much louder. Had there been some explosion outside?

"Nurse! Nurse!" Petra called. After a few seconds, a young woman came running in.

"Oh thank goodness, I thought all the patients in this wing had been killed!" she said as she quickly helped Petra into a wheelchair and sped down the hallway with other nurses, doctors and patients. Unable to turn her head, she couldn't see where the explosion had come from.

"What's going on?" Petra asked

"Two titans appeared! They're fighting eachother!" the nurse explained. An alarm started to ring, and there was another large boom behind them. Petra couldn't look, but she could tell some of the crowd in the hall had just been silenced. They had reached a wheelchair ramp, finally. Petra smelled something coming from the floor above them. It was smoke. Something had to have been on fire.

"Nurse, please! What was that explosion?!"Petra asked, terrified.

"Two small pieces of building were launched into the hallway. The first was in the room next to yours, and the second was just behind us. Don't worry, you're gonna be okay." The nurse said in a now rushed tone. By this point, Petra kept her hands covering her stomach. It was by no means, a useful way to protect her baby, but it gave her some comfort. The nurse turned a corner down a corridor made as a sort of sunroom for patients. As they sped down as fast as they could, Petra looked out of the corner of her eye.

Flames and plumes of smoke littered the skyline. Soldiers were on their 3d maneuver gear with both scouting legion and military police emblems. It almost seemed like a different world. The most horrific sight, however, didn't come from the burning buildings or the panicking civilians. It was the titan that Eren was in his titan form to defeat.

She sat there in shock as the first flashbacks started going through her head. Gunther, Erd, Auruo... They had all died on front of her... The blood... So much blood dripping down from Gunther's neck, from the female titan's mouth as Erd was bitten in half, when Auruo hit the ground... So much blood filling her lungs. She felt like couldn't breathe again. That titan was back. Why? Was it for revenge? It must be after her. Petra started gasping and choking, remembering her experience at death's door. The nurse stopped pushing the wheelchair and attended to her patient.

"Ms Ral! Ms Ral, I need to you to take some deep breaths!" the voice seemed like an echo. her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest. She pressed down hard on her stomach, and felt her hands yanked away to make sure she doesn't accidentally hurt the baby.

"She's having a panic attack. We need a tranquilizer, or she could miscarry." she heard a voice say, it sounded like her doctor, but she couldn't be sure. The female titan turned around and faced their direction. Petra stared back in pure fear. She felt a needle in her arm, and everything went black.

She woke up the next day. This wasn't the hospital, it was the scouting legion's infirmary. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, It was the middle of the summer, but she felt something cold on her stomach. she glanced down, and there were Hanji and Levi. They hadn't noticed Petra was up yet.

"You can just barely hear it, but it's there." Hanji said to Levi

"does it sound healthy?" Levi asked

"Yeah. woah! its pulse sped up when you started talking, I think it knows its daddy!" Hanji squealed. Levi got annoyed, and took the stethoscope from her to hear this for himself

"oi, kid. Can you hear me? " He said in a loud voice, and suddenly, he was dead quiet. Hanji jumped up and down in her chair excitedly.

"Petra is going to be so excited when she wakes up!" she said

"I've been awake for a few minutes. " Petra yawned.

"It's just quiet enough in here where we can faintly hear the baby's heartbeat!" Hanji explained, and without a moment's hesitation, put the stethoscope on Petra and the cold metal part on her stomach.

"... I don't hear anything." Petra said, a bit concerned

"give it a few seconds." Levi gently took her hand. there were a few more seconds of silence. Petra was starting to get nervous. Then, there it was:

_bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum_

She felt her eyes well up with tears as she listened to her baby's heartbeat for the first time. it was soft, and fast-paced, but it was definately there

"Levi, I can hear it!" Petra beamed. Levi let out a smirk

"it's a strong kid with a stronger mother." he said. Petra blushed and covered her face, a bit embarrassed.

"That's enough." Levi took her hands away and locked lips with her. It was a long, passionate kiss. Their first since the mission where. only lips against lips, but to them, it was nearly as exhilarating as skin against skin. She felt herself blush as his tongue entered her mouth, letting out a soft moan and wrapping her arms around him, trying hard not to move her back. Levi was complying accordingly and started to reach down, attempting to undo her brace when Hanji snapped them out of it.

"Oh goodness, there's a child present!"

Levi stared daggers at her in response.

"Yeah. get out, shitty glasses." he said

"Really, though. Her body is in no condition for sex right now." Hanji explained with her usual bluntness.

"But, she will need you to help her put on the brace every morning, and take it off every night. And in the meantime, she can do what she wants on base, maybe familiarize herself with civilian housing." Suddenly, the room grew silent.

"Civilian? well, once I'm back to 100%, I'll be on lighter-weight duty until the baby comes, but… Levi, I'm a soldier, not a housewife…." Petra stuttered

"That's the thing…. Erwin wants your leave to be permanent." Levi explained.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, I'm seeing a lot of people are subscribing to this story, and I'm really happy about that, but could you guys maybe leave some reviews with some sort of feedback? I want to know what you guys think. If you couldn't already tell, this story is quite different from the original. I'm trying to make it better and less weeaboo-ish (if that's even possible) So yeah… reviews would be awesome...


	4. Magnolias

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a heads up, guys, I haven't decided on the gender of the baby. If you want, you guys can vote for either boy or girl since it'll be born in the next chapter. I sort of lean towards girl usually since there are a crap ton of baby boys in my life (all my cousins are boys, my friends all had boys... Etc etc...) not sure how that's relevant, but yeah. I'll take votes, and you'll find out in chapter 5, but. **_

_**Also, Google docs is the best thing since sliced bread **_

_**Now read on, my loves**_

"please Leviiiiiiiiii"

" no, Petra."

"please Leeeevvvviiiiiiiiiiiiii"

"I'm not doing it, Petra. "

" pleeeeeeaaaaasssseeee!"

"Petra, I am not making you sweet and sour soup, whatever the hell that is..." Levi was obviously annoyed.

"come onnnnnnnnnnn!" she whined. The captain's eyebrow twitched a bit. As her pregnancy progressed over the past few weeks, Petra had grown more hormonal and less like her old self. This had lead to many a crazy idea ranging from new cravings involving the weirdest combination of (mainly spicy) ingredients to crying over an error in grammar of a letter.

She was able to tolerate her brace since it just felt like a big corset with breathing room, and the wheelchair was almost fun to her now, especially when she convinced someone to race her down the hallway.

Meanwhile, that small bump was growing every day, making it impossible for Petra and her mother to find her a decent wedding dress while shopping after physical therapy sessions in town. Her parents were more shocked than mad to hear there was an unexpected grandchild on the way. With their only living child in the military, they rejoiced when they saw her coming through the gate alive, and with news of the baby and her survival of her injuries, they were completely overjoyed.

They, of course, along with Erwin, pushed for Petra to be discharged from the corps, but she and Levi pushed just as hard to keep her in the military. It was ultimately decided that as a survivor of the female titan, she was holding valuable information on her attack patterns and intelligence. Also, there was always a chance that there were other intelligent titans and titan shifters that could go after her because of her knowledge. For her and her baby's protection, she had no choice but to stay in the Survey Corps. She had to have a few accommodations though.

Petra was now allowed to share a room and bed with Captain Levi so he could help her in and out of her brace and she'd be the most comfortable near him if she needed bedrest. In the current situation, the two were headed to bed.

Levi had grown accustomed to the new routine. He pulled down the covers and got out a night gown for Petra as she moved from the wheelchair to the bed, and sat up as straight as possible.

"Are you in any pain?" he asked, taking her boots and pants off for her.

"No, I'm fine" she responded, shrugging off her jacket.

:"How's the kid?" he asked again as he undid the tight straps keeping the brace on around her chest

" well, they've been moving around a lot more than usual." She said, trying to hide excitement

"Oh?" Levi undid the last of the straps as they got looser around her stomach and gently pulled off the brace itself. He took off her undershirt, helped her into her night gown, and slowly laid her down on the bed.

"Yeah, they seems to like when Eren's around. It must be because he helps out so much." She explained

"they? Did the doctor hear more than one heartbeat?" Levi asked, taking out his set of pajamas from the dresser

"no, but I hate saying 'it' and 'he or she' is a bit of a mouthful." Petra stared up at the ceiling, studying the patterns in the wood. Different swirls and lines caused by nothing other than nature itself. She turned her head to see her beloved captain lie down next to her, and pull the sheets over the two.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked. Petra nodded. Gently, he put his hand on her stomach and kissed her on the cheek.

"What are you doing?" she giggled

"you said it started moving, I want to feel it." He said. She smiled at him

"It's very slight. Plus, I can't make them do it." she said.

"Hey kid, this is your father speaking. I order you to kick your mother right now." he half-jokingly said, looking down at Petra's stomach. almost instantly, though, there was a feeling of something nudging just under his hand. Barely noticeable, he felt it a second time, and even a third time. His eyes immediately widened and his focus shifted from the baby to its mother.

"Petra... I didn't expect it to actually... "

" our baby knows their daddy's voice! " She smiled

" why don't we just pick a name for it?" He sighed

"because there are so many names... If it's a boy, there's three or four options there. Not as many for a girl, though... " She said, reaching for a pad of paper and pencil to write the options. Levi ended up getting it for her and writing down the names.

" there's Erd, Gunther, and Auruo to start as boys' names. " He said.

" and Ian. After my brother. " Petra suggested. Levi wrote it down.

"Farlan is another boy's name." He said. Petra didn't recognize that one.

"Who was Farlan?" Petra asked

"He was a friend of mine. He and my adopted sister, Isabel, died on our first mission. " Levi grew quiet. Petra was silent for a moment too, but then smiled and put her hand on top of his.

" Isabel is a nice name for a girl." She said.

"name her after your mother or something. Isabel hated her name. "

" Fine, it'll be a middle name if it's a girl. Anastasia Isabel, and maybe Farlan Auruo if it's a boy. " Petra suggested.

" Farlan Auruo Ackerman and Anastasia Isabel Ackerman... They both have a ring to them... I like it…. Farlan's probably going to get his ass kicked in school for that name, though." He kissed her on the cheek, and moved to the other side of the bed, making sure that there was no chance he'd roll over in his sleep and move her. He was a light sleeper anyway, but he wanted to take every precaution to make sure she healed right.

"Goodnight, Levi. Goodnight, Farlan or Anastasia." Petra said, as she gently drifted off to sleep. Levi picked up a book as reading was his usual hobby to send him off to sleep. Usually, it was one of Hanji's boring titan studies, or the newest book about parenting Petra had bought. He made a habit of staying up now because night terrors had started causing Petra to talk in her sleep, and even move around a bit. Tonight was no exception. It started out as her usual; mumbling a few nonsensical things. Phrases got clearer and clearer, though. Levi gently kissed her on the cheek, attempting to comfort her.

"Petra" he whispered "it's just a dream."

"No…. no, please… don't kill me…" she mumbled

"I'll protect you." Levi whispered, trying to keep her calm

"she prioritized an eye… she-..."

"Petra, it's over. wake up"

"GET UP! Please get up! guys…." she was in some sort of terrible nightmare.

"Petra Ral, wake up!" He ordered

"EREN RUN!" She screamed.

"PETRA!" Levi finally smacked her in the face. Petra suddenly opened her eyes and started to move around. Levi Immediately put his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from sitting up and hurting her back again.

"Another nightmare?" he asked. Her facial expression told him the answer. She had relived the events of the 57th expedition again as she did every night. He had no idea how to help her, so he did what he could… he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in close, and quickly turned them over so she was lying on his chest, somehow managing to keep her back straight.

"did that hurt at all?" he asked at a near whisper, trying to calm her down. Petra looked at him, eyes still full of fear.

"Is she gonna come back for me? Is she gonna hunt me down? I know too much, Levi." she said, stuttering with almost every word. He gently stroked her hair.

"I won't let that happen. "

Petra started to sob. She wished she weren't in such a venerable state. She wished she could move on her own, defend herself, do something. Levi just held her close,letting her cry for a while.

" The female titan is in custody. Her accomplices will be caught. Don't doubt that. I swear we will find them. " He said, pulling her in close. They stayed like that all night,and she fell asleep after a while, and so did he,the only thing giving him any peace of mind being that nudging he had just felt coming from inside Petra.

The morning light came in through the window. It was time for their morning routine; in other words, the previous night's routine in reverse. The persistent nightmares for the both of them made for a silent, unhappy morning. Going downstairs for breakfast usually was what lightened the mood, for Petra at least. There were no ramps or accommodations for a wheelchair in the survey corps hq, so going downstairs meant Levi would pick Petra up princess style, kick the wheelchair down the flight of stairs, and carry her down.

seeing Petra in the state she was in was tough on Eren, especially. Petra wasn't the only one with night terrors after

the mission. He also saw his squad killed one by one in front of him night after night, usually awoken by their screams.

Mikasa had taken to pulling her mattresses downstairs to the basement, and being there to comfort him when he woke up. This was originally prohibited until the night he started thrashing around, and she pulled his hand away from his mouth as he nearly turned into a titan. He was so angry though. Angry at Annie for deceiving them, angry at himself for not stopping her in time, and even a bit angry at his squad for letting themselves die.

As Levi, hiding his own injury, wheeled her into the mess hall for breakfast, Eren felt that same pang of guilt.

"are you alright with oatmeal today?" The captain asked his fiance.

"oatmeal should be fine." she smiled. He came back with her food, and suddenly, she turned to the young man next to her.

"Eren,are you alright?" Petra asked in the new soft motherly tone she had developed. He tried not to look at her stomach, and she could tell.

"I… I'm fine." Eren said just couldn't meet eyes with the woman he had failed to protect, knowing her blood, and the blood of her unborn child was on his hands. If it weren't for him, Petra wouldn't be in that wheelchair or brace, she would be on some sort of light duty or maternity leave… suddenly, he felt a soft hand pick his up and put it on something. something with another thing twitching just underneath it. He looked to his right, and immediately looked down again. the twitching continued for a few minutes and then stopped. Petra let go of his hand.

"Sorry, I thought it would cheer you up to feel the baby kick. they just started doing that." Petra said quietly. Eren wiped his eyes,hiding newly-formed tears. Mikasa , sitting at his left, gently took his hand. Finally, Levi spoke up.

"Eren. You made your choice, and you're dealing with the consequences. All of us are doing that right now. You're dealing with what happened when you chose to believe in your teammates over yourself, Erwin's dealing with choosing to send thousands in to die for humanity, and Petra and I are dealing with the choices we made. So don't think you're so goddamned special for making the wrong choice, because you're not the first, and you damn well won't be the last."

Eren looked at captain, seeing a hint of regret in his eyes. It was no secret that he and Petra didn't plan this pregnancy, but they were managing fine, at least so far. Petra always seemed like the type to want to be a mother, but would never get the chance because of the scouts or because of... The mission she would have been lost on if captain Levi hadn't saved her. Petra gently squeezed his hand.

"I'm sorry, Eren. You shouldn't be burdened with something like this, but the captain's right. We all make choices, but we need to use our bravery to remember our comrades didn't die in vain." she reassured him. Eren wiped his eyes, and nodded

"They didn't die in vain… " he said to himself.

"That's right." Petra patted him on the back. The rest of breakfast was spent talking about the usual topics: missions,reclaiming wall Maria, and anything else that came to mind. After that, they returned to their usual posts. For Petra, that meant her physical therapy appointment with a doctor brought on base that specialized in obstetrics, to make sure she had a full recovery and her baby stayed healthy.

The exercises meant she would have to take off the corset-like brace and work on moving the muscles that had been in shock from surgery and weakened by rest. Levi was usually there to help, but had a meeting regarding possible accomplices to the female titan. Petra knew this, but her hormones were getting the best of her that day. The slightest mishap sent her off the deep end in this mood. Levi's absence haunted her mind and quickly snowballed. If he prioritized a meeting over her appointment, where was it to end? Would he miss out on their baby's birth for a mission? Would he skip out on him or her growing up so he could kill titans? Once her physical therapy and check up were over, she did what she usually did to beat down her mood swings; she went to the kids garden.

It was the hidden treasure she had found when they first arrived in the castle. There was a small patch of wildflowers growing in the garden. It had gotten a little cold as the autumn approached. Soon, the flowers would die and snow would come in. It was probably now or never to pick the prettiest ones so she could dry or press in a book. If Hanji was right, the baby would come in February. There wouldn't be any flowers at all by that point, so she decided to start picking the flowers for decorations, maybe. There were a lot of goldenrod and asters, so she ended up picking a lot of those. Levi came about ten minutes later to a very angry pregnant woman.

"what did I do this time? " He asked with a sigh which was met with a honey gold glare.

" nothing. " She responded. Levi furrowed his brows and kneeled down next to her wheelchair.

" whenever you say it's nothing, it's definitely something . " He kneeled down to be at her level. She unhitched the wheelchair's breaks in an attempt to get away from him, but he grabbed the arms of the chair and looked her dead in the eye.

" Petra Ral, what is wrong? " He asked.

"You missed my appointment. Why?" Petra asked, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"... That's why you're upset? Really?" Any sympathy for her at that moment died with that comment.

"What if something happened?" she sniffled, attempting to still pick more flowers.

"Nothing would have happened at a doctor's appointment, and the meeting was about finding _her _allies. Would you rather have me go to that and do something about the deaths of our comrades, or hold your hand while you get a massage?" He said as bluntly as he could.

"You…" Petra's opinion didn't change one bit after his explanation. Swatting his hands away from the wheelchair, she rolled herself over to the late-blooming magnolia tree. Keeping her back straight, she stood up, and leaned on a branch for support.

"Petra, get back in the chair." Levi sighed, more than a bit irritated.

"No, there's a specific flower I want to press and put on the baby's crib." She replied

"Do you want to fuck up your back again? Fitting since it's against a tree." He mumbled to himself. At that, she lost her balance, and fell on her side, screaming in pain. Immediately, Levi rushed over and picked her up.

"God dammit!" He quickly ran to the infirmary with Petra in his arms as she cried in pain. There was no damage to her spine, but she managed to fall on a rock, break a rib and get herself stuck in bed rest for a few weeks. While getting the bone reset, she described the flower she wanted to pick. It was a pink magnolia. The only pink magnolia on top of the tree. It was unique and Petra wanted it for that reason alone. It all annoyed Levi a lot, but he didn't want her to have broken a rib for nothing…

He made Eren get the Magnolia

**I'm having a fanart contest. Winner gets their art featured at the beginning of all my videos of the story! (info below)**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, this chapter sucked really badly. It's mainly because in the middle of writing it, my boyfriend of two years and I broke up, so I haven't been in much of a romantic mood lately. Anyway, umm check out my youtube channel, Sango Nanami and my tumblr actualpetraackerman. You can submit the art anywhere on these XD don't be shy either! love you all!**

**~Sango**


	5. A Father's Love

**Author's note: So, this is the chapter where the baby will be born, so I'm trying to give it a more intimate feel, or family-stuff… idk. I'm in post-breakup mode still…. I really hope the quality doesn't suffer…..**

**WARNING: SPOILERS FROM THE MANGA AHEAD**

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Weeks and months rolled by slowly without a sign of the female titan's accomplices. At the same time, Petra was growing more and more anxious, and Levi was determined to keep her safe. Their time was running out, though. There were only a few weeks left until the due date now, and there was still so much to be done. A crib had been set up in Levi and Petra's room, but it was only a temporary solution. They needed some sort of normal housing for the baby to grow up in. Petra refused to leave the military, but the baby needed to grow up with other children, with some sort of friends.

By now, petra didn't have to use a brace anymore, just as well, at the rate that her baby was growing, she couldn't keep it on by the time she was at her third trimester anyway. She was out of the wheelchair and finally back on her own two feet. The weight on her torso caused a bit of stress on her back, but nothing major.

It had been a while since she was able to fit into a pair of jeans, let alone her uniform, so she ended up wearing a white dress instead. The one thing she always wore, though, was her survey corps jacket. It was to remind not only other soldiers, but herself, that she was still a soldier ready to give her life for humanity. She was as brave as she had always been, but otherwise, her mood had changed drastically. She could be glowing, and content, the picture perfect expectant mother on one hand, but if she had any back pain, morning sickness, or mood swings, the entire base would know. This particular night was one of those nights. Levi, always a light sleeper, was awoken by a pained groaning.

"Petra, are you alright?" he yawned.

"I can't sleep." she responded with an impatient tone.

"What's wrong now?" he sighed

"my shoulders…. and the baby keeps kicking really hard…" she whimpered

"sit up." Levi half-commanded. Petra obeyed, and he started giving her a massage. He glanced over to her stomach for a moment and saw the fabric of her night gown move.

"it's kicking that hard?" he quietly asked

"yeah. I don't really know how to react, honestly…." Petra rubbed her stomach

"it just means the kid is strong." he kissed her cheek

"No, it means I had too much sugar in my tea and I forgot how much the baby likes sugar." she sighed.

"Don't say that word…" Levi muttered.

"What, baby?" she raised an eyebrow

"Yes. That one" he remained nearly silent

"why not?" she asked

Levi was rubbing her shoulders a little harder

"It's bad luck… In the underground, any time a kid was planned or anything, its parents referred to it as …. that…. And the kid would always end up stillborn somehow." he explained. Petra moved his hands away and turned around to face him.

"Our son or daughter won't die." she said

"You can't guarentee that." Levi looked her straight in the eyes. Petra looked back, and did the same thing she did with Eren; she took his hand, and put it on her stomach. What was once a few small nudges had grown to a lot of heavy movements. kicks, punches. Now Levi could see why his fiancee was so uncomfortable.

"hey, calm down in there." he said. Regardless, the kicking continued.

"They're excited. Our son or daughter is eager to meet us." Petra smiled and laid down

"Have you had any contractions?" Levi asked, laying down next to her

"A few tiny ones here and there. Nothing major. Hanji said the baby will probably be here this time next week." she turned around a bit, trying to get comfortable.

"..." Levi kissed her on the lips

"So what do you want? Boy or girl?" he asked

"Honey, I just want them out of me. I don't care at this point." Petra laughed.

Eventually, the baby's kicking stopped, and the couple finally went to sleep. The next day was shopping day, but also, the troops suspected of being the female titan's accomplices were returning from their unexpected ambush from the mysterious titans found within wall Rose. Eren and a few others had gone as backup, so there were geared-up soldiers too.

"Open the gate!" a voice from the Stationary Guard called. Petra, who was looking at market stalls, went over and stood next to Levi. She took his hand, knowing there would definitely be fewer soldiers returning home and in a matter of minutes, they'd find out who fell in battle. As the gate was raised, soldiers walked in. This did not include Mike or his squad, Eren, Reiner, or Bertholdt. If Eren were dead, there would be absolutely no hope for humanity. They would be trapped within the walls. Levi squeezed Petra's hand.

"Springer." He stopped Connie on the way in. "Where's Jaeger?"

"He's just outside the wall, talking to Reiner and Bert about something, Captain." Connie replied.

"What about your squad leaders? Nanaba? Gelgar? Henning? Renee? Mike?" Petra asked. Connie shook his head, holding back tears. None of them had made it back. Levi exchanged looks with Petra and they both saw the looks on the 104th squad as they each entered the wall. Ymir being critically injured. Petra winced again in pain, but looked on anyway.

Suddenly, a large explosion erupted, causing the earth to shake, and she stumbled along with most of the crowd. Large footsteps could be heard just outside the wall. There was a titan outside. Had Eren used his power without permission? No, it was a different titan shifter. Just from outside the gate, in a cloud of steam, shiny golden plates could be seen. It couldn't be... What she could see matched the description of the armored titan. She was about to scream, but covered her mouth to avoid causing a panic. She looked up to see Levi was able to keep his was an even larger explosion causing another earthquake and the colossal titan appeared on the wall. Finally, a third explosion. this time, there was no earthquake, but a loud roar. Eren must have transformed.

"Are you alright?" Levi asked, helping Petra up.

"Yeah…" she kept her eyes locked on the colossal titan and watched in horror as he ate a soldier off of the wall. That was when another contraction hit.

"Seriously?" she said to herself, knowing what this contraction meant.

"It's the damned kid, isn't it?" Levi asked, aggravated.

"You got it" Petra said. The colossal titan let go of the wall and dropped to the ground.

"Captain Levi, we need your help, they're taking Eren!" someone called to him. Petra let go of him and fell back to her knees, hugging her stomach.

"Go, go get Eren. The baby can wait a bit." She faked a smile.

"They can get Eren by themselves." He said, picking her up princess-style.

"ow.. careful of my back." She said

"Sorry. Let's go find a doctor and finally meet this little shit." He said. That was when the first titans walked into the wall.

"... How….. We're in the interior." Petra said at a near whisper.

"shit…" Levi said. Within seconds, he had his 3dmg set and got them up to the top of the wall.

"CAPTAIN, THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" another soldier called out to him

"Oi! Is there anyone here that can help Petra deliver in case I don't get back?" He announced. It was suddenly dead silent. They were military personnel, they didn't know the first thing about delivering a baby. Levi stared daggers at his new squad. Each of them awkwardly looked at ground, not sure what to make of the situation. Hanji needed to go with them to rescue Eren, and so did anyone wearing their gear. The people not wearing their gear, namely Sasha, Connie, and Rico, would probably have to stay behind anyway. Somebody had to kill the titans in the wall though. There were only three in total,so it wouldn't be a problem for a few soldiers in the Stationary Guard to take care of. Quietly, Rico, a member of the went over to Petra's side and Sasha spoke up.

"back on my parents' farm, I used to help deliver baby animals... Piglets, calves, foals... A litter of puppies too... How different can it be? " She said Nervously.

Meanwhile, Petra, had taken off her coat so there'd be something to wrap the baby in, and started walking around with Rico's help. It was something she had read about letting gravity do the work for you during early labor. Levi went over to her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said with determination:

"I'll be back soon."

"please don't go..." Petra begged

"I have to... I'll be back as soon as I get Eren back. " Levi, upset by the possibility of being absent for the birth of his first child, said in his usual controlled tone.

"captain, your horse is ready." A soldier approached him.

"alright. " He locked lips with Petra one last time, and they said their goodbyes.

And just like that, he was gone. Petra wiped tears from her face as she watched him leave. Titans were in the city, and all she could do was watch as five more entered and the gates were finally closed. Stationary Guard soldiers had gotten titan-killing training since the battle of Trost, so one by one, the titans fell.

Suddenly, it felt as though a lightning bolt had hit her. She groaned in pain.

"It's going to be okay. They're gonna get Eren back, and we can get you to a hospital." Rico reassured her as she took her hand.

"is there any way we can get her inside?" Connie asked, increasingly nervous as he saw the pained expressions on Petra's face. Sasha looked around.

"uhhhh.. Well, where's the lift? Once the titans are down, we can get her into a house-

"AAAAAAAAAAH! " Petra suddenly screamed. Immediately, Rico helped her sit back down and moved a crate for her to lean on.

"oh jeez, oh jeez, oh jeez..." sasha started to panic.

"you said you've delivered babies before!" Connie whispered in an equal amount of panic panic

"I said baby animals! Animals don't scream when giving birth! "She whispered back.

"just take some deep breaths." Rico directed her. Petra nodded and did as she was told.

"Sasha... I need you to... To help... It's okay to be scary, but... You're a soldier… you can do this, you're strong. " She cringed in pain again.

"... Connie, go get some hot water, a towel and a wash cloth from a house or something." Sasha two girls helped Petra get in the right position, and connie went for the lift. He got to the ground only to be met by another Stationary Guard member.

"Hey, kid, what's going on up there?" The soldier asked him.

"we need uh... We need wash water and hot cloths-no, water towels and cloths- SHIT! " Connie said. The soldier raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay, kid?" he asked. Connie took a deep breath.

"there'sawomaninlaboratthetopofthewallandI'msupposedtogethotwaterforthegirlilikebecauseshetoldmetogetit! "Connie spat out the sentence. It took the soldier a second to figure that out, but once he did, she helped him find what he needed.

By the time he had everything, though, he had returned return to a very impatient sasha.

" Okay, make sure that water stays warm. The baby's gonna need a bath." She said

"wait, is it here? " Connie asked hopefully

"no, but you can see its head, come here, it's pretty cool! I was right, this isn't much different from the farm. Petra still screams a lot more than the animals did though. " sasha said. Immediately grossed out, Connie ran over. To the nearest trash can and threw up.

Petra pushed again as hard as she could. The pain was unbearable. Yet another heavy contraction hit, and she screamed.

" any... Any sign of... Levi? " She asked, desperately trying to get her mind off of the pain. Sasha glanced over the wall and then looked back.

" Not yet, but good news is one more push and the baby should be here." She said optimistically. At that, Connie ran over with the hot water, but made the mistake of looking as soon as he put the bowl down. He promptly fainted.

"You ready to meet this little sucker?" Sasha asked.

"I have been for the past six months. Petra smiled a bit. Sasha counted to three, and Petra closed her eyes and focused all of her energy into pushing. That was when the worst of the pain ripped through her like a knife. How could all of those nights with Levi have lead to this pure agony? When he held her in his arms, when she looked into his eyes and he kissed her... How could it have all lead to this?

Suddenly, the pain stopped. Something warm and wet was handed to her. She opened her eyes to see the small, red creature laying down on her chest. It was her baby. Petra was speechless. Finally, her child was right before her eyes. This was the reason she went through the pain, the cause, of it, but also the end of it. The baby was crying, taking in its first breaths of air as it greeted the world.

"Hi there…" Petra whispered to the child, catching her breath. Before she knew it, though, it was taken away from her. Weakly, she sat up, about to beg for her baby back. They weren't taking it away, though. Sasha had just cut the umbilical cord, and Rico was giving it its first bath. Petra couldn't help but laugh a little as the infant whined in discomfort, pushing the washcloth away from its face until it eventually gave in. Gently, it was wrapped up in the towel Connie had been given by the Stationary Guard, and handed back to Petra. She snuggled her new baby close to her, and she never wanted to let go of it.

It was only a few minutes later that the baby's father would approach the walls with everyone who had gone after eren. Many were injured, including commander Erwin, who had lost his arm in the battle, and Eren, Armin, and Mikasa, who had minor injuries, but were emotionally wounded from losing an old friend to the monster that had murdered Eren's mother. The commander was weak from blood loss, so Hanji and Levi had helped him through the gate, around the still steaming ground from where the titans had died, and set up a quick field transfusion with a soldier with O- blood.

Levi looked up at the top of the wall. It was silent, eerily silent. Something was wrong.

"Hanji, you got it from here?" he asked

"Yeah. go on ahead." She quickly replied

Without a moment's hesitation, Levi had his gear hooked onto the wall, and was at the top in seconds. He was met with the sight of people cleaning up blood, and instantly froze. There was a small tent up in the middle of where there was the most blood. Levi was numb at this point, preparing himself for the worst as he walked towards the tent. People were silent, keeping to their cleaning. He knew in his gut that his fiancee and child were dead. He needed visual proof though.

After what felt like an eternity, he reached the tent. Steadying his shaking hand, he pulled the front curtain aside only to be find an unexpected sight. Not only was Petra alive, she was nursing a newborn baby. Levi dropped to his knees. For the first time in his life, something had gone the way it was supposed to. He had become a father.

"Pe-"

"shhhh" she hushed him. Her voiced had changed again. It was warmer, more soothing… she had the voice of a new mother.

"It's…. alive?" he said at a near whisper in astonishment.

"It's a girl." she said with that new tone.

"A girl…." Levi repeated to himself. for the second time in his adult life, he felt that heavy feeling in his chest. he felt his eyes water as he tried to ignore it. his breathing changed.

"God dammit…"he said, wiping his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Petra asked. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around the two, and buried his head in her shoulder, sobbing.

"You're alive…. you're both alive…" he said, taking in the moment, not caring what was going on in the world around him. He had lost everything over the course of his life; his mother, his innocence, his friends, his squads…. so many had died in front of him, and he even missed his daughter's birth, but for the first time, he could say he was a man with a family, and that was a man who had everything, and he was not going to let anything harm them.

"Would you like to hold her, Levi?"

Without a word, he wiped his eyes and gently took the fragile infant from her mother. In response, the baby squirmed a bit, whining until she was in a comfortable position.

"Hello, Anastasia." he said. she opened her sky blue newborn eyes, and looked at him with curiosity, recognizing his voice.

"Who's eyes do you think she'll have?" Petra asked

"With that face, yours. She's got my hair though." Levi poked the baby's cheek and she immediately grabbed his finger.

"She's got one hell of a grip, though, for such a tiny thing."

"it runs in the family." Petra teased.

"Petra, they've got the a cot for you to bring you to the hospital." Sasha poked her head in.

"Okay." Petra smiled at her and turned back to Levi. "you can thank her for delivering the baby."

"Good work, Braus." Levi nodded to her. The tent was moved away, so Petra could be put on the cot and brought over to the lift.

"Oh, Levi…" She took her captain's hand as they lifted the cot up.

"Remember what you said you'd do?"

Levi nodded, stood up, and carried his daughter over to the edge of the wall facing the outside,

"Oi, kid… look out in front of you." he ordered. Anastasia's eyes were darting back and forth, but her gaze focused on the horizon.

"That's all for you. Everything you see and more. Your mom and I are going to make sure you see whatever lies beyond this wasteland. There are fields made of nothing but sand, miles and miles of water filled with salt and huge fish called the ocean, and mountains even bigger than this wall... There's one reason we have to fight for you to see those places though. That thing is called a titan. I don't expect you to understand this until you grow up, and you will grow up, no questions asked on that one... But I wanted you to know that when your mother and I leave for a bit, we're fighting so we can all see that ocean thing. So we can see how salty that water really is... And even if some of our friends may not come back, we always will. I promise that. " He held her closely, as if trying to protect her from the cruel, cruel world they lived in.

He held her like that as the lift gently lowered them down, as they walked to the hospital, and even just moments before he was forced to hand her to a nurse. Now it was time for her first physical. She was about 6.2 pounds and 18.5 inches long. It was a bit small, but still fairly normal for a baby developing in the conditions she did in. Filling out the birth certificate paperwork was a pain in the neck though. There was one set of paperwork, explaining they were engaged to be married, one Levi had to sign for them to acknowledge he was the baby's father, then their separate medical histories, and finally, the last thing they wrote down was their daughter's full name:

Anastasia Isabel Ackerman

**Author's note: I SPENT AN ENTIRE DAY DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO MAKE IT TWINS AND I WAS NEARLY DRIVEN INSANE**

**so yeah, I wrote that in about 24 hours,( not counting the entire day it took deciding whether or not to make Ana have a twin brother… the votes were 50/50, so I wanted to be fair. It was literally just decided a few minutes ago with one vote. I hope it isn't too wordy or weird. I hate writing birth scenes... Also, my kitten, Khoshekh, decided to walk on the keyboard (and knock over my laptop) he left a message during Levi's promise to Ana, so I thought I'd share it at the end:**

**"zChnjm**,"

-Khoshekh (Sango's nerdy kitten)


	6. You'll Be Alright

**Okay, guys. the poll votes have been counted, and the majority of you voted to keep Anastasia without adding in any twin… but you know, I was thinking of giving her a friend/potential future boyfriend… Who will the parents be? Only time will tell.**

**Also, no one has submitted art of the fanfic and I'm sad. **

**In other news, I was at anime boston as dead Petra (with the pregnancy test meme, of course) Someone called me sango, and then I was like "wait what?" but it turned out I knew them from a different con...**

"She has her mother's eyes."

that's what every single visitor that came to visit the new family in the hospital said over the course of the day when they noticed the two amber gems looking at them through heavy eyelids. Even the nurses commented on his strange it was that her eyes changed color right off the bat. It was strange, but not impossible, seeing as Petra's parents said that Petra's eyes did a similar thing when she was a baby.

Mr and Mrs Ral absolutely adored their new granddaughter and immediately bought local stores out of pink baby clothes, baby dresses, and stuffed animals. By the time Petra and Anastasia were cleared to go back to the survey corps, the carriage had a large trunk filled with presents just from Petra's parents. Not only that, but since they were so close to the hospital, they made sure Petra had company the entirety of her hospital stay. The wedding was still in the plans, but the fact that Anastasia was born out of wedlock didn't bother them much at all.

"If anything," her mother said, "it'll make dress shopping easier."

When they finally returned to HQ, they were met with a crowd of people applauding for the newest member of the survey corps, and her tough-as-nails mother. Petra blushed, a little embarrassed, but Anastasia looked around. All of these people smiling at her and talking to her parents, the attention was a bit overwhelming. There were a few people that caught her attention, though. a boy with green eyes, a boy with two different colors of hair, a blonde boy, and a girl that looked so much different from the others. There were a few of them that seemed familiar. the brown-haired girl was the first person she'd ever seen, along with the bald boy next to her. The short blonde girl confused her. She didn't seem as happy. Something was upsetting her. Something important. Unsure of how to console this new person, she simply smiled at her, and the smile was returned.

Finally, they entered a new doorway. It was darker than the other places, but was soon lit up as windows were opened, the room was illuminated. It was a hallway leading to a flight of stairs. Levi picked Petra up out of her wheelchair to carry her upstairs.

"Levi,be careful of the baby! She's so fragile!" Petra laughed as he lifted her up in his arms. She looked down at the infant in her arms, and couldn't help but smile at her puzzled expression..

"you can't be walking around. You just spent yesterday pushing our daughter out of your-"

"I know that!" her face turned bright red I'm embarrassment.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. " Levi reassured her as he entered their bedroom."It's nature. It's just the way people come into the world."

He. Gently laid her down on the bed and took Anastasia from her.

"what are you doing? " She somewhat panicked

"giving you time to change." He said. Petra looked beside her to see a white nightgown sitting on the bed, folded for her. She smiled and switched to the smooth, warm flannel outfit while Levi changed Anastasia's diaper, a task he didn't like, to say the least. He wrapped her up in a pink fuzzy blanket, and laid her down next to Petra.

"hello sweetie." She smiled at her new daughter, who was still wide awake. She had her father's nose, her mother's smile, and those adorable rosy cheeks of a newborn, the world, nothing more than a strange, foreign land. She was still learning what she was, and baffled by mysterious objects like her fingers and toes. The two Giants lying down next to her, holding her close were the most confusing. They were much kinder than the other Giants, and their voices were familiar. She had been hearing those two voices since she first started to hear, and they gave her a sort of comfort.

Her eyes explored the room and were met with the eyes of I the blue-eyed giant as he lay down in the bed so she was between the two. He looked so sad, just like the girl from before. It was sadness, but a different kind of sadness. He looked at her as if she were going to be taken away from him at any moment,or as if she and her mother were about to dissappear.

"Petra, I... " He said at a near whisper.

"It's okay, Levi..." Petra smiled, wiping a tear from her eye.

"What matters is that you're here now."

Levi's eyes seemed to be getting heavy. He kissed petra.

" I'll never leave your side again." he promised. gently, Petra took his hand and both their gazes shifted to the now sleeping infant.

"I'm not the one you should be promising that to." the new mother said.

"It applies to both." Levi gently pulled the covers over the three of them, making sure Anastasia was secure.

"Get some rest… I guarantee we'll have some visitors in a few hours." he said

"I bet we will." Petra responded in somewhat of an irritated groan. She just wanted time alone with her love, and her baby, was that too much to ask? She looked up at the cieling and The sighed in annoyance, then turned back to Levi. The captain had dozed off in a matter of seconds. She couldn't help but smile at his peaceful face. He had been strong for her for so long. She had been as strong as she could in return, of course. The baby let out a yawn. and Petra kissed her forehead before drifting off to sleep.

…

…

Blood. So much blood everywhere. Titans and humans alike had perished in the battle. Merely miles away from the wall, and they were caught completely off guard since very few of the new recruits decided to fire a flare on time. Levi was cutting through titan after titan. A blood bath was ensuing. One hell of a start for the new recruits.

"SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE! " a voice screamed out. Levi looked over and a newbie was in a titan's grasp. The, soldier cut her way of its hand as another one grabbed her. That was her last blade that had gotten dulled by the last titan.

The captain immediately flew over and killed the titans surrounding her. Without even looking, the new recruit hugged him tightly

"thank you, thank you, thank you! " She cried.

" don't worry about it. " Levi replied in his monotone. That was when the girl looked up at his face.

" Oh my god... You're captain Levi... " The girl's face turned a bright red as she backed away and saluted.

" p-petra ral, sir... 99th trainee squad... "

" at ease, ral. Just be more careful next time. " Levi responded

...

...

...

" what's her name again? "

" Anastasia Isabel Ackerman. "

Levi awoke slowly to see people had entered the room to visit the young family. The 104th squad and Hanji,to be exact. Luckily, as a commanding officer, Levi had a very big bedroom.

"she's so cute now that she's not covered in blood and guts and stuff! " Sasha said as the baby was handed to her from Jean. Anastasia immediately looked up.

" looks like she recognizes you! "Petra smiled. Registering all of the new people, Levi immediately got up and stood next to his fiance.

" How long was I out? " He asked

" maybe twenty minutes. I just woke up when squad leader Hanji came in. " Petra said.

" your squad wanted to see the baby! " Hanji smiled. Levi shot her a glare and looked around the room. one by one, infant was still being passed around. from Sasha to Connie to Armin and finally Mikasa. he looked over to see Eren barely in the doorway, refusing to look at anastasia, Petra, or Levi.

"Eren , come inside." Levi said in a comforting voice. the young man responded be a glance, and inching his way into the room, reluctantly making it inside as his turn came to hold the baby. He nervously cradled the child in his arms as she looked up at him the same as with the others.

"...h-hi…" he said. Anastasia yawned and snuggled close to him in response. With all the people having passed her around, she was getting tired, but also a bit overwhelmed, and he seemed safe enough. Eren took this as a means of escape though, so he brought her over to his captain and immediately passed her to him.

"S-she's very cute… c-c-congratulations." Eren muttered, starting to wipe newly-forming tears from his eyes.

"Eren, she wouldn't be here if it weren't for you." Petra said, trying to cheer him up.

"With how much pressure goes into your abdomen with using 3d maneuver gear, it's honestly surprising I didn't miscarry early on. If I hadn't had my accident, I probably would have lost her without even knowing I was pregnant in the first place. You saved her life."

Eren looked over in a bit of shock.

"That being said… with everything going on with the titan cult, and people looking for Eren, we can't afford to spend any more time here… So as my new squad, we will all have to move to a secret location soon. That includes all of you, myself, Hanji, and Petra and the baby for their own safety." Levi explained. Each of the young soldiers saluted, including Eren. It was time for a move.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: MY GOD, THIS CHAPTER SUCKED BALLS! I apologize it took so long, and for how much it sucked. lots of home troubles and such. ex-boyfriend is harassing me too. that's pleasant...Anyway, yeah, I was trying to go with the timeline, and I think I'm doing a fairly decent job at it. okay, I love you guys! see you in the next chapter!**


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